Volume 60: Siege

Siege

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrator: Olivier Coipel

"...[T]his is the kind of crap we should be avoiding."

The quote I used above echoes what I was thinking while reading through Siege. I could end this post right now, leave it at that, job done, but I've come this far, sixty volumes, so I'm going to finish.

Asgard is on Midgard. Okay, it's not technically 'on' Midgard, it's hovering twelve feet above Oklahoma, but still, WTF? Norman Osborn is still in charge of H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Avengers, such as they are. It was a stupid idea before and it's still a stupid idea now.

Looked at optimistically I could say that I feel the purpose of the story was to get the true Avengers back in place, or, if you prefer to put it another way, to undo all the convoluted, idiotic shit that they did previously. It's a semantic difference only. The result is the same.

Things were changing behind the scenes, too. The story was first published at a time when the live action superhero films were netting new fans for the publisher and Disney had just bought the company for a whopping $4,000,000,000. I don't know if the success of the early films had any influence on the planned direction, but it probably wouldn't have hurt matters. Siege put an end to the (then) current sate of affairs. It reset the nonsense, making things easier for the many new fans and beginning the new Heroic Age initiative.

I've drifted off topic a little. It's because I realised that I actually had said in the opening paragraph all that needed to be said about the book. It's garbage, the kind of crap we really should be avoiding.

The book collects together Siege: The Cabal and Siege #1-4.

Verdict:

Volume 58: Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: Leinil Francis Yu

"[Y]ou all really need your asses kicked!"

I mentioned previously (in Volume 20: Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility) that I believe Brian Michael Bendis can do good work when he sets his mind to it. I still believe that to be the case.

But it must also be said that his CV contains a fair amount of work that's the opposite of good - lazily plotted and clichéd stuff that still makes money because some fans will buy any crap with a Marvel logo; e.g. Secret Invasion, one of the worst books in the Collection.

It's a story about the shape-shifting Skrull, revealing how they've been masquerading as heroes for a long time, both A-listers and B-listers, destroying the costumed community from within in preparation for an all out Skrull attack (aka big yawnsome fight).

It kicks off with a huge battle in the Savage Land, followed by a huge battle in the city. During both conflicts we're repeatedly reminded that we don't know who to trust. It's a solid basis upon which to lay an evolving story of paranoia and misplaced loyalties—because the team need to know if the person next to them is going to protect their back or embed a traitorous knife in it—but the 'evolving' part of the equation is absent. Even five issues into the arc very little has changed, we're still wondering who is Skrull (or still not caring, in my case), still turning page after page of fight scene after fight scene.

The book's script rarely rises above tenth grade fan-fiction levels of accomplishment. It's an almost complete waste of precious time.

The final chapter drops a bombshell that'll once more throw the natural order into chaos. But frankly, the stupidity attached to the decision means the people involved deserve all they get.

The book collects together Secret Invasion #1-8.

Verdict:

Volume 42: New Avengers: Break Out

New Avengers: Break Out

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: David Finch

"No more politics. Just us. No U.N. No governments. Just us helping people that need help. The big problems."

The events in Break Out take place six months after Volume 34: Avengers: Disassembled. The team as they existed at the end of that book is no more, disbanded, the dead are still dead, Stark isn't as filthy rich as he used to be, etc. When the Ryker's Island maximum-maximum security installation (yes, double maximums) has an Arkham Asylum-esque security failure a huge number of crackpots and supervillains are let loose upon the world, necessitating a dedicated team of heroes to do what heroes do: yadda, yadda, assemble.

It makes a kind of sense that the arc be included in the Collection, in part because it continues the Disassembled story line, telling of the evolution and change that's inherent in such teams, and it's really not a bad story, per se, but I don't feel that it's an essential read unless you're a devoted Avengers fan. On the plus side, it spends an admirable amount of time setting up the new team, as opposed to throwing them together without rhyme or reason and asking that we accept it without question, like good sheeple.

Bendis engineers a scenario wherein the heroes see the benefits of teaming up, but he leaves a window open through which tragedy may later creep, bringing with it bags filled with vicissitude and hubris.

The addition of Spider-Man (the loner) and Wolverine (the loose cannon) allows for their more series-specific villains to possibly feature in future, if the need should arise. I get the feeling that it will because neither of the two men are what I'd call team-players, so it seems natural to assume that they'll feature heavily in the works to come, creating conflict on multiple levels. Otherwise, why add them?

The book collects together New Avengers # 1-6.

Verdict:

Volume 40: House of M

House of M

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: Olivier Coipel

"What would you have me do?"

If you read the books in numerical order (as printed on the spine, not the sticker on the front of each issue) then you'll be aware of what happened in Volume 34: Avengers: Disassembled and of what was left unresolved. House of M addresses that particular situation.

The opening four pages are top class stuff, setting the stage for what follows. The location is far from grand; the state of the buildings echo feelings felt not just by the heroes but also the antagonists of the piece, a post-traumatic landscape of loss and decay. The remainder of the story isn't perfect, but it has more highs than lows, and often with Marvel crossovers that's the best you can hope for.

The pre-battle gathering of heroes is the kind of thing that usually makes me cringe, but the weight that assails each one on a personal level gives it an edge that's often lacking. They aren't debating how best to take down a megalomaniacal supervillain in need of reeducation. They're seeking comfort, assurances, wondering if what they need to do can even be done, and if not by them, then by who?

That 'edge' is the product of a feeling that extends beyond the page. Without going into spoiler territory, the situation, as wildly fantastical as it is, has at its core a fragility that every person who reads it will be able to relate to. Everyone wants to be happy in their own way, but dig beneath the surface and you'll discover a wealth of clauses and provisos that must also be met lest the happiness be in name only.

The end might leave you with more questions than when you started, and Marvel retconned some stuff at a later date, but as a book in its own right House of M goes to some remarkably fragile places.

The book collects together House of M #1-8.

Verdict:

Volume 34: Avengers: Disassembled

Avengers: Disassembled

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrators: David Finch / Jim Cheung / Steve Epting / Gary Frank / Michael Gaydos / David Mack / Alex Maleev / Mike Mayhew / Steve McNiven / Mike Oeming / George Pérez / Eric Powell / Darick Robertson / Lee Weeks

"[W]e, as a group, have failed..."

It's become customary to do something special for a landmark issue, something memorable or celebratory. With Avengers issue #500, Brian Michael Bendis took over as regular author on the series and set about destroying everything – in a good way. In order to remake the team into something new he had to first tear down what was old.

In just four issues he puts them through hell in the hope that they'll emerge from the other side as better heroes, more aware of the consequences of their actions and more appreciative of what they have. Not everyone survives the Bendis assault.

The threat comes without warning, as something known but unknown, an unfamiliar thing in a familiar form, and death follows.

The team's feelings are thrown into turmoil as they try to make sense of something the human mind can't easily make sense of. The most common response is to lay blame, find a target for the anger and pain, but the target isn't in plain sight. The true enemy this time isn't one that can be easily punched into oblivion.

There's still plenty of action, if that's your main concern, but it's balanced out with plenty of text and a fair amount of standing around talking deductively; somehow it all works.

Many different artists worked on the miniseries, so the quality varies, but mostly it's very good. There's a superb page in #501 made up of just four horizontal panels, dialogue-free, that puts into perspective the emotions that the remaining team members have to deal with. Much later, near the book's end, there's an astonishingly good double splash page that evoked an audible "Wow!" from me while reading.

The final chapter (Avengers Finale) is a kind of coda in a form that many people will recognise, a post-tragedy event for which there are no hard and fast rules, but which everyone in attendance understands, nevertheless.

The book collects together Avengers #500-503 + Avengers Finale.

Verdict:

Volume 33: Secret War

Secret War

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: Gabriele Dell'Otto

"[L]et the last thing they see on this earth be the culmination of all your lies and betrayals!"

Not to be confused with the Marvel Secret Wars (plural) miniseries of the mid-1980s, Bendis' Secret War is very different. Firstly, and without a doubt the greatest thing about the book, there's fully painted art by Gabriele Dell'Otto. His use of colours reflects both the nighttime setting and the seriousness of the situation. It's a story that shook one of the pillars of the Marvel universe: S.H.I.E.L.D.

Colonel Nick Fury handpicks a small group of costumed heroes from different walks of life and throws them together on a covert mission of great importance. We're told that each one was chosen because of their unique attributes or abilites, but the reasons for each aren't explored in a satisfactory way. Perhaps Bendis assumed we'd be able to discern for ourselves based on our knowledge of their past adventures? I don't know, but I personally knew one of them by name only, having never read a single issue of his solo title.

The story itself would sound great when told to someone, abridged, but actually reading it isn't a very exciting process. It's confusing for a while, but it's supposed to be, so at the end of the day that isn't a problem. However, it's also contrived, with not enough distinction between characters' dialogue, and the nature of the work means that 90% of the exposition is clumped together in a single issue.

Between each issue are text entries that give background (or extraneous) information on people or events prior to the story's main event, in the form of transcribed interviews and S.H.I.E.L.D. operation database entries; the interviews are the most useful.

The book collects together Secret War #1-5.

Verdict:

Volume 20: Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility

Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrator: Mark Bagley

'I was selfish. So selfish — and you paid the price.'

Marvel were in financial difficulty back in the late 90's. The ULTIMATE line was a make or break concept that saw them reboot some of their most popular franchises for a potential new audience. It was a complete wiping clean of the slate, resetting characters back to day one. They didn't abandon the existing books; the new ones ran concurrently with a separate continuity that kept the core values but left behind all the baggage.
In the case of Spider-Man they made him 15 again; he's an adolescent in an adult world, on the verge of learning real responsibility for his actions. It was the most daring, freshest thing to happen to the character in many, many years. And luckily for Marvel it was instrumental in saving their ass financially.
More titles followed, including Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and an Avengers style team-up called The Ultimates.

Click the drop-down box above for some brief information about the Ultimate line of superheroes and how they fit into the existing Marvel world. It's not essential to what follows, so you can ignore it if you’re not interested or if you already know.

There's no flaffing around in Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man. It introduces the teenage Peter Parker, his friends and family, sets up the relationship he has with each of them and gives a glimpse of the world in which they all exist, then BANG! The spider bite, the transformation, and the crux of the story takes hold.

Comics are often filled with narrative boxes that document what a character is feeling; it gives a reader an insight into the head-space of the hero, but an over-reliance on them can be a crutch. Bendis makes use of them, it's difficult not to, but he keeps them at a minimum in the early stages. What he does instead is revert to a 'show don’t tell' attitude that gives the story a real vibrancy and immediacy; it filled me with a desire to get to the next page as hurriedly as possible, which is the opposite of what I normally do because I like to take in all aspects of the work (construction, style, art, etc).

Artist Mark Bagley understood the approach and fills his panels with everything necessary to communicate the unspoken parts. In just a few pages writer and artist show Peter's isolation, Mary Jane's compassion, Harry Osborn's arrogance, Uncle Ben's paternal longing, and Aunt May's stern but sensitive role-play.

I know Bendis has his haters, but I would argue that when he didn't dilute himself across multiple titles he was damn good at what he did.

If you want a Spider-Man origin story that closely resembles the Sam Raimi film version, and you want a great comic that starts strong and keeps on giving, then Ultimate Spidey is highly recommended.

The book collects together Ultimate Spider-Man #1–7.

Verdict: